Evidence in Molly Bish probe is sent to Texas

Potential evidence in the Molly Anne Bish investigation will be sent from the state police crime lab to a private lab in Texas for forensic testing, according to authorities.

Ms. Bish was 16 when she disappeared in 2000 while working as a lifeguard at Comins Pond in Warren. Her remains were found three years later in a remote area of Palmer. Investigators have said she was abducted and murdered. The slaying remains unsolved.

Timothy J. Connolly, a spokesman for District Attorney Joseph D. Early, confirmed today that pieces of potential evidence in the Bish investigation that have remained untested since being sent to the state police crime lab last year will be forwarded to Orchid Cellmark Labs in Dallas, Texas for DNA testing.

He declined to identify the items that will be delivered to Dallas, but said some of the evidence gathered in connection with the investigation has been tested in the past.

Mr. Connolly said investigators expected the testing to be completed more quickly at Orchid Cellmark than it would have at the state police lab because of the facilities’ respective workloads.

Heather Bish, Molly’s sister, said she had been awaiting the results of testing that was to have been done at the state police lab on items that included cigarette butts and duct tape from Comins Pond, as well as items taken from the Florida home of convicted killer Rodney Stanger, who has been identified as a person of interest in the Bish case.

Ms. Bish said state police informed her Wednesday that the testing had not been done, after telling her earlier that the results were expected soon. She said the news was “quite disappointing and discouraging.”

She also said today she had not been personally notified that the testing would now be done at Orchid Cellmark. “I’m really hoping that they’re going to be doing that,” Ms. Bish said.